Golf-club shaft



Aways.

W. F. REACH GOLF CLUB SHAFT Filed Jan. 24V 1927 May 3, 1927.

Patented May 3, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM I'. BEACH, 0l' SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASBIGNOB TO A. G.SPALD- ING & BROS., OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

A CORPORATION F NEW JERSEY.

GOLF-CLUB SHAFT.

Application led January 24, 1927. Serial No. 183,187.

My present invention relates to improvements in golf clubs and moreparticularly to the hand grip portion of the shafts thereof.

For many years golf club shafts have been made mainly of wood(specifically hickory) but. the increasing scarcity has built up ademand for a satisfactory substitute, and up to the present time thetubular steel shaft is the only thing which apparently meets the need.

Such steel shafts havek been open to the objection that they. arepractically rigid against any torsional movement.

In a club with a hickory shaft the capacity of the shaft for torsionalmovement causes it to absorb the shock of the blow or impact of the balland produces a sweet feel, which is absent in the steel shaft.

Attempts have been made to avoid this objection by providing the steelshafts with a relatively soft sleeve or hand grip portion but this hasnot proved satisfactory, as it is not firm enough under the hand topromote good play.- l

The present invention aims to provide a golf )club having a metal shaftprovided with a hand grip portion free from such defects and theinvention comprises such a shaft having a hand grip sleeve of relativelyfirm material united to the shaft by an interposed member of elasticmaterial having an inherent quality of returning to initial conditionafter distortion. v

In the drawings v Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through thehand grip ortion of me shaft, the balance of the sha t being omitted.

Fig. 2 shows a cross sectional view of the grip with a modified form ofthe interposed uniting member, and also a longitudinal sectional view ofsaid modified form.

Fig. 3 shows b views similar to Fig. 2 another form of t e invention.

Fig. 4 shows a cross sectional view of a longitudinall grooved shaft anda form of grip adapte thereto, and thisAigure also includes alongitudinal sectional view of the grilp and shaft.

n this drawing, referring to Fig. 1, the numeral 1 designates the shaftof tubular steel, representative of the customary type of steel shaftfor both wood and iron clubs. This is surrounded, at the upper end orhand grasp portion, by a member 2 of elastic outer sleeve 3 of firmmaterial to be grasped l by the golfer.

The elastic member 2 is rnily united both to the shaft and'to the outersleeve. I have found that by making the interposed member of relativelysoft rubber and the outer sleeve of a firm material such as steel or analuminum alloy, to both of which the rubber 1s unlted, say byvulcanization, an extremely satlsfactory club is produced, as `the outersleeve offers a firm grip for the hands while the inner member has acapacity for torsional distortion and a permanently inherent quality ofreturning to initial or normal p0- sition. This gives the elastictorsional or cushioning effect of the hickory shaft -witlioutsacrificing any of the advantages of the steel shaft. Another advantageis that by varying the thickness of the rubber member or by varying thedegree of softness thereof, correspondingly varying amounts 'oftorsional elastically ma be secured.

The torsional mem er shown in Fig. 1 and described above is in the formof a continuous circular member or sleeve in cross section. This member,however, may assume other forms within the scope of my invention. Forinstance, in Fig. 2 the interposed rubber member may be in the form of asleeve circular in lcross section and having integral therewith a seriesof spaced apart ribs or strips 2a extending lengthwise of the sleeve andshaft. This member is moulded In Fig. 3 the interposed torsional memberis shown in the form of separate strips of rubber 2b spaced apart andextending longitudinally of the grip.

In Fig. 4 the interposed torsional member is in the form of rubberstrips 2 circular in cross section and seated in grooves 1b of the shaft1.

In Fi 3 and 4 the torsional member is camente on.

Reverting to Fig. 2 the procedure may be to mold the rubber directly tothe shaft, usin in connection with this a cement that wil insure goodadhesion between the rubber and said shaft.

The outer surface of this rubber sleeve may then be butfed and cementedto the outer metallic sleeve with a rubber cement.

A modification of the above may be per- I claim is:

l. A metallic golf club' shaft having an encircling hand grip sleeve ofrelatively rm material united to the shaft by an interposed member oftorsionally distortable material having an inherent quality of returningto normal position after distortion.

Q. The article of claim 1 in which the i' intermediate member is ofrubber.

3. The article of claim 1 in which the outer sleeve is also of metal andthe intermediate member of rubber adherent to the shaft and outersleeve.

4. The article of claim 1 in which the interposed member provides spacedapart portions extending longitudinally of the shaft and sleeve.

5. The article of claim l in which the interposed member is made up ofspaced apart separate portions extending length- Wise of the shaft.

6. The article of claim 1 in which the shaft is provided withlongitudinal grooves and the interposed member consists of portionsspaced apart and located in said grooves, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM F, REACH.

